I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 25

We ventured deeper into the gate, but only the frequency of monster appearances changed; no stronger monsters emerged.

“Let’s stop here and head back. We’ve accomplished a lot today.”

“Sounds good?”

Sunghyun was acutely aware of what lay further ahead.

Within this gate resided a unique mutated monster, one that inflicted curses.

While monsters capable of casting curses weren’t unheard of, they weren’t exactly common either.

This particular mutated monster differed in only one crucial aspect: it cursed the bloodline of any hunter who dared to hunt it.

If the bloodline consisted of hunters, they possessed some resistance, but if they were ordinary individuals, they were doomed to a grim fate.

This was precisely why Sunghyun hesitated to proceed any further.

“Why? Can’t we explore a bit more?”

Sangyeon seemed more enthusiastic than I anticipated.

It had been a while since he had exerted himself physically, and the synergy between Sunghyun, Inhwan, and himself was exceeding expectations.

“No, it’s too dangerous to go any further.”

“…Well, if you insist.”

Sangyeon didn’t press the issue, respecting Sunghyun’s firm stance and following his lead.

“So, same time tomorrow?”

“That’s up to you. We’ll be here at this time regardless.”

“Okay, I got it.”

The trio exited the gate, finalized their plans for the following day, and went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, another man was heading deeper into the gate.

“To think the subjugation was canceled today. That’s a real letdown.”

He had been anticipating the subjugation scheduled for today, but the association abruptly issued a halt order.

If it were a large, renowned guild, they might have proceeded, accepting the potential penalties based on the gate’s level. However, the man’s guild lacked such prominence and had no choice but to comply.

“I needed to finish this month’s quota…”

To prevent large guilds from monopolizing the gates, the association distributed a fair number of subjugation rights to small and medium-sized guilds.

But the subjugation of his allocated gate was now suspended.

“Guess I’ll have to hit up an open gate for the first time in ages?”

It wasn’t that he was strapped for cash.

More money was always welcome, but his finances weren’t dire. The man ventured into the gate primarily because he felt it was a waste of the preparations he had made for the day.

“Huh? Why are there no monsters?”

He arrived at the gate where wolf-type monsters typically spawned near the entrance, but it seemed they had all been cleared out recently. He couldn’t find a single monster nearby.

Consequently, the man pressed deeper into the gate.

Further and further, until he finally encountered a monster.

The man, having ventured so far that he had lost track of the distance, paused momentarily upon seeing the monster before him.

“A mental entity-type monster?”

Observing its translucent body floating in the air, it resembled a ghost, a common sight in games and comics.

“First time seeing one in person.”

They were rare, and he considered himself lucky.

‘Physical attacks are practically useless against mental entity-type monsters.’

It was common knowledge, and fortunately, the man wasn’t a hunter specializing in physical combat.

“Since it’s a rare monster, the crystal should fetch a good price.”

The man unleashed his ability on the monster, which hadn’t yet detected his presence.

“…?”

But the monster seemed completely unaffected.

It didn’t even flinch, as if it hadn’t registered the attack at all.

“What…”

That left only one option.

“Does that mean physical attacks actually work?”

He didn’t possess physical abilities, but basic physical training was standard for most hunters.

The man drew his sword from his chest and cautiously approached the unaware monster.

‘Now!’

The man swiftly plunged the sword into the monster’s core, assuming it was over, and began searching for the crystal.

But the crystal was nowhere to be found.

“What’s going on?”

As he puzzled over the situation, he was deafened by the monster’s ear-splitting shriek.

“Kieeeeeek!”

“Kugh! What, what is it!”

The man instinctively covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, he saw only his sword lying on the floor; the monster had vanished.

“What is going on, seriously…?”

The man, bewildered, scanned his surroundings, then resumed his search for another monster, as if compelled to do so.

‘Thump’

“…Huh?”

‘Thump, thump, thump.’

The man frantically looked around.

Was the thumping sound he was hearing a sign of a large monster approaching?

But that expectation was entirely wrong.

The sound originated from his own heart.

Essentially, the curse didn’t significantly affect hunters with curse resistance.

It only caused a mild ache.

“A monster that casts curses…”

It was a nuisance.

It would inflict constant pain for about a day, disrupting his planned subjugation.

“Guess I have no choice but to head back today.”

Given the unpredictable nature of the pain, the man decided to cut his losses and return home.

“I’m home.”

“Ah, son…”

But his mother’s greeting was unusually subdued.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“I… I suddenly have a terrible headache…”

Her complexion was noticeably pale.

Her dark complexion and bluish lips suggested a serious condition.

“Have you been to the hospital?”

“Not yet…”

“Go immediately.”

“Your father… your father too…”

It wasn’t yet his father’s usual arrival time, but he emerged from the bathroom, clutching his head.

Like his mother, he appeared to be in pain.

“Father?”

“Oh, you’re home.”

“Are you sick too, Father?”

“I don’t know, something feels off today.”

He looked slightly better than his mother, but his complexion was still pale.

“Go to the hospital, quickly. Both of you.”

The man felt a growing sense of unease and rushed them to a nearby hospital.

“Hehe…”

“Is everything alright? They usually don’t have any underlying health issues…”

The doctor’s expression was grave, hardly indicative of a simple headache diagnosis.

“It seems like you’re… cursed.”

“Yes, yes? Cursed?”

“This is strange. It’s hard to believe that non-hunters are being cursed, as it usually only affects hunters. Have your parents ever been inside a gate?”

“Of course not!”

The doctor realized he had asked a foolish question.

It was rare to encounter a monster that casts curses, and reaching such a monster required navigating through numerous others. The man’s parents, being ordinary people, clearly lacked the ability to do so.

“You should go to a larger hospital. The pain seems to be intensifying, and there’s nothing more we can do here.”

“That, that can’t be…”

The man’s parents had already lost consciousness due to the pain.

‘Could it be… could it be because of me?’

The man desperately tried to recall anything that might be related to the curse, and his encounter with the mental entity monster immediately came to mind.

‘Could it be… could it be…’

But the idea that he had cursed his family, who weren’t even present, seemed absurd.

‘A mutation… a mutation?’

Only one possibility remained: if that monster was a mutated variant with unique abilities, it could explain the situation.

Furthermore, that monster was unusually vulnerable to physical attacks, unlike other mental entity monsters.

“Excuse me… guardian?”

“Ah, ah. Yes.”

“You need to go to a bigger hospital immediately.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

The man immediately transported his parents to the largest hospital in the area.

Upon arrival, they underwent examinations, but the doctor’s expression mirrored that of the previous one.

“We’ll have to… wait and see.”

“How… how will it be? Are they going to be okay?”

“I can’t say for sure. It’s the first time ordinary people have experienced a curse typically reserved for hunters… For now, we can only manage the pain.”

“That, the curse usually disappears after a day, right?! Right?”

“…That’s only for hunters with resistance.”

The doctor departed, leaving the man to watch over his unconscious parents.

“I… it’s because of me…”

A wave of guilt washed over him.

If he hadn’t gone to the gate out of disappointment, if there had been only ordinary monsters near the gate, if the association hadn’t canceled the subjugation schedule in the first place…

“Are they going to… have to live like this for the rest of their lives?”

It was a devastating thought.

If there had been a similar case, there would have been research, but despite his frantic searches, he found nothing.

Whether it was because people were like this in the first place, the more he tried to find a solution, the more desperate his thoughts became.

If the curse didn’t lift, if the pain worsened, if the hospital’s painkillers proved ineffective…

The hunter-only hospital offered no hope. What could he do, lacking knowledge or connections in this area?

The man briefly left the hospital, his mind blank.

He reached for a cigarette, a habit in tough times, when his phone rang.

“Hello… hello.”

“Hey, what’s up? There’s something good happening tonight, want to grab a drink?”

“I’m at the hospital right now…”

Upon hearing the word ‘hospital,’ a concerned voice responded.

“What? Are you hurt?”

“Ah, no. Something happened.”

“…Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong…”

“…Which hospital are you at?”

He tried to be cautious, but his despairing tone betrayed his true state.

“It’s a hunter-only hospital.”

“Wait.”

He hung up abruptly, and the man extinguished his cigarette and sat down heavily.

After a while, his friend arrived and addressed him.

“…What’s wrong?”

He had assumed the man was injured, given the hunter-only hospital, but seeing him unharmed, he guessed someone else was hurt.

“It’s…”

The man recounted the day’s events.

He wasn’t one to share his burdens easily, but if he couldn’t confide in someone, he felt he would be crushed by the guilt.

“…What? A curse?”

The man’s friend was stunned.

Not a hunter, but an ordinary person cursed.

A hopeless situation that even a hunter-only hospital couldn’t resolve. He couldn’t offer comfort, so he simply sat beside him, lit a cigarette, and offered one to the man.

“…Have one more.”

As the cigarettes burned down, the two remained silent.

‘…Wait a minute. Could it be that person…’

The man thought of the academy.

The only one in that academy, no, the only person in the world with healing abilities.

“There might be… a possibility.”

“What, what? What? What possibility?”

“First, let’s wait until tomorrow, in case the curse lifts on its own, and then we’ll proceed.”

“Okay, okay. I don’t know what it is, but thank you.”

“It’s not even certain yet.”

The friend looked at the man, who had regained a glimmer of hope, with relief.